The quest for personal happiness is a quest for freedom. The changes that bring freedom need not be large. There is a magic wand that will solve your problems, you just have to find it.

Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Creativity, Flow, Mood

Here is a conundrum that I haven't solved yet:

Writing improves my mood. I very easily get into flow and am able to distract my mind from the emotions it would otherwise hang onto and obsess about. Creativity kickstarts flow for me.

But writing is also something I put off when I'm feeling low. It has a high mental barrier I have to overcome before I start. I can force myself to write (and that works), but it takes willpower... and willpower (as we know isn't a magic wand)

The more I think about this, another enemy of mine - exercise - is exactly the same. I can do it regularly, and I have to use the same tricks. And eventually I stop.

There is a magic wand I need to find to overcome the initial block. It shouldn't be hard. Maybe this blog is a first step towards it - a publish or be damned attitude which goes against my nature (of don't publish and hide behind the knowledge that I could do this brilliantly, if I wanted).

But this is exactly what magic wands are about: if I can overcome one small block (using something other than willpower) my quality of life will improve dramatically, because I'll be able to shift my mood whenever I'm in the doldrums - and have something to show for it at the end. And if I find a trick that does work for writing, hopefully it will point the way to similar ticks I can use to get over the initial emotional hurdle in other activities